Concord
Hafthor “Thor” Bjornsson, the brutal, feared guard of Queen Cersei Lannister in the HBO series Game of Thrones, is competing in the annual New Hampshire Highland Games and Festival for the third time, starting today.
The 6-foot-9, 400-pound Bjornsson said he will be lifting heavy stones over his head and throwing a 56-pound weight with an attached handle over a horizontal bar with one hand. The Icelandic actor also is planning to lift a car in a strength demonstration event.
“The people here are so welcoming,” 28-year-old Bjornsson said, while sitting with other athletes around the backyard pool of a highland games official on Thursday in New Hampshire. “It’s great to come here.”
The 42nd annual highland games, one of the largest events of its kind in the country, will feature sheep dog trials, dancing and piping contests, and a kilted race. Over 30,000 people are expected to attend.
Bjornsson said he had no idea how much Game of Thrones, which recently wrapped up its seventh season, would change his life. “I didn’t realize how big it would be,” he said.
He said he’s much busier now, and people often recognize him. “I love my life, I get to travel the world, meet a lot of people,” he said.
The most recent season gave a hint of a showdown in next year’s eighth and final season between Gregor “The Mountain” Clegane and his brother, Sandor “The Hound” Clegane, whom he pushed into a fire years ago, disfiguring his face.
But Bjornsson is sworn to secrecy about the plot, and admits he doesn’t even know what will happen.
“I get my scenes maybe a day (before), or just on the spot when I’m there,” he said.